“Never let perfect be the enemy of the good.”
I just passed 50,000 words on my NaNoWriMo project so I am officially done. Congratulations to the other winners and good luck to those still working!
Now it’s time to get back to… everything else:)
Posted in Writing | Tagged books, creativity, Fiction, finishing, nanowrimo, science fiction, Writers, writing, yay | 2 Comments »
Insane deadline looming so I wasn’t planning on posting anything today but! I just had to mention that my favorite writing and submissions manager The Grinder has added yet another really useful feature: the Market Response List. It tracks all responses from markets where you have current submissions, and is visible as a tab on the main page, next to Recent Activity and Recently Added Markets. So you won’t waste time clicking through to each market individually, repeatedly, far too often!
Yeah, it’s a version of something Duotrope already has. Only, you know, free. Thanks for all your hard work, The Grinder!*
* Not associated with the aforementioned site, just think they are terrific.
Posted in Writing | Tagged awesome, Fiction, submission manager, submissions, The Grinder, work, Writers, writing, writing tools, yay | Leave a Comment »
I’m busy working on a hard deadline so today I invite you to enjoy this great, self-reflective piece on diversity in historical fiction (and by extension, all fictional worlds) by Mary Robinette Kowal. She’s talking specifically about race but the same points apply to gender, sexuality, etc. as well.
Don’t blame the homogeneity of your novel on historical accuracy. That’s your choice, as an author.
Posted in Writing | Tagged books, diversity, Fiction, history, literature, Thoughts, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
Like a lot of you I have a pretty (read very;) active inner editor. Most of the time we have a good relationship. He’s helpful when I need to find typos or structure a plot line but can be a pain in the ass when I just need to get words on the page. When writing, my strategy has been to find a balance between my instinctive urge to edit as I go and the not-as-helpful urge to redo absolutely everything all the time.
For me, that’s where speed writing comes in.
I was an archer in a former life and found that the best thing to do when I was missing my shots was to loosen up. The best way for me to do that was speed shooting. Forget the rules, forget “nine steps to the ten ring,” forget breathing and pacing and everything else. Just shoot, as many arrows as fast as you can. By the time my quiver was empty I’d regained my sense of balance and perhaps most importantly, my sense of fun. When I became an instructor I found this technique was one of my best for helping students over humps.
That’s why NaNoWriMo appeals to me. I do NaNo because it gives me a structured opportunity to focus on something that the inner editor doesn’t have a part in, word count. If nothing else, it gives me the opportunity to loosen up my writing muscles to the point where I can restore the balance I may have lost editing the rest of the year. It also gets me back in the practice of writing, rather than editing, on a daily basis. And it reminds me how much fun writing can be.
I also found that being mean to my inner editor didn’t work, I had to silence him with kindness. I mentally send him on vacation for the month of November. I thank him for being so diligent, so dedicated, and as a reward I send him somewhere warm, a sunny place with bright blue water and umbrella drinks. (Not surprisingly, he’s a lot less uptight come December.) And then I write.
I should also say that the strategic use of deadlines, both in and out of November, has been critical as well. Having a cutoff date does wonders for my sense of focus.
So, finding a way to get out of my own way, that’s what works for me.
Good luck finding a strategy that works for you:)
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* Thanks to Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran of SF Canada for the discussion that inspired this post.
Posted in Writing | Tagged Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran, creativity, finishing, inner editor, Motivation, nanowrimo, SF Canada, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
As you can see from the widget in the sidebar (just there, to the right:) I am indeed doing NaNoWriMo this year and I’m making decent progress. I am not worrying about writing a work of unimpeachable genius. I am not sweating typos. I am not questioning my character’s motivation or whether he really would want to eat the fried pigeon at that corner street cart (he does, he told me so). I’m just showing up and getting it done.
Show up and get it done. That is a decent summary (ok, paraphrase, she’s a little more forceful:) of Cat Valente’s NaNo Pep Talk for today, and I was happy to see it. I was also happy to see her push for the possibility of writing that is done fast and also well. It’s not all going to be good, but there’s no reason why it should be bad. And no matter what happens, it certainly won’t be a waste of your time.
Check out the Pep Talk, enjoy the wisdom of a voice of experience. Then whatever your project may be, show up and get it done. Good luck!
Posted in Writing | Tagged artists, books, Cat Valente, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, nanowrimo, work, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
In classic MIT fashion Lobby 7 has been hacked, Ender’s Game style.
…rogue fans of the legendary science fiction book series Ender’s Game hacked Lobby 7 sometime over the weekend.
Credit: Hairuo G. ’17
See the link above for more fun photos.
In other news (and after whole minutes of deliberation), I’m doing NaNoWriMo again. Yes, on top of the other special projects I have going on. Feel free to check out my progress in the NaNo sidebar widget. This also means that I will be extra busy so posts here are likely to be, well, not here. As much.
/nano ftw!
Posted in Funny, Writing | Tagged awesome, creativity, Ender's Game, genre fiction, hacks, MIT, nanowrimo, science fiction, work, writing | Leave a Comment »
I like practical shoes. They don’t have to be ungainly, or ugly, or orthopedic* but I do like it when shoes are sturdy yet still attractive, appropriate to the task, and preferably waterproof. A help rather than a hindrance.
Sadly, women in TV Land do not often get all of those things. Or even some of those things.
Let’s take a non-random sampling of TV shows as one small example. One of the very first things I noticed** about the private detective show King & Maxwell was that Maxwell, played by Rebecca Romijn, wears practical shoes. Finally! I said to myself (and Mr. Man and the cats, none of whom care much about shoes but should), a show that does not feel the need to undermine its own plausibility by putting its female star in impossibly impractical footwear. Who chases bad guys in stilettos? Who can possibly sneak up on a secret lair in clompy clompy shoes? No one, that’s who.***
Now, I love Castle. Love Nathan Fillion (of course, and may Serenity fly forever, but he’s carved out a nice new niche for himself… one in which he gets to wear practical shoes:p), love the writing, love the humor, but Beckett (played by Stana Katic) should get an Emmy just for being able to walk in the shoes those costumers put her in, much less run and chase and fight and snare baddies.
A frikking Emmy.
And that’s my “thing I like” for today.
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* Updated because I just received an objection to this bit because the commenter likes their orthopedic shoes, which is fine, I’m just saying that shoes can be practical without being medical. So enjoy your posturally and otherwise functional footwear, people, whatever type they may be!
** Well, after I noticed the kick-ass intro they used for the premiere, complete with great music and a car chase and a man in a furry suit. Sadly, it was followed by the snooze-inducing actual intro which, while stylish in a sedentary way, should be updated as soon as possible. Why put your audience to sleep before they have a chance to appreciate the show?
*** Well, maybe RuPaul, but she’s just that fabulous.
Posted in Likes | Tagged Castle, entertainment, gender, King & Maxwell, Nathan Fillion, Rebecca Romijn, RuPaul, shoes, Stana Katic, television, Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
Hey, nice, I’m cited in Danika Dinsmore’s new post about “pantsing” and NaNoWriMo. And she’s right, “Really, there is no one way or best way to write a novel, there’s just the way that works for you.”
I also love the random idea generators she links. It’s like a slushy machine that pours out stories, tasty, delicious, multi-colored stories!
Now if I can just figure out how to make time for a novel, I’ll be all set:)
Every year during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) the discussion of “pantser” (one who writes by the seat of his or her pants) vs. “Planner” (one who outlines in advance) pops up. For the past two years I’ve been boldly promoting the “Planner'” approach:
Reading that post, I sound very convinced and quite smug. Really, there is no one way or best way to write a novel, there’s just the way that works for you. And this year, I’ve joined Team Pantser. Not necessarily because I’ve seen the light, but because I’m being forced to for lack of planning time. As a matter of fact, I can’t even begin until Nov 4, so I’m going to have to haul literary ass to catch up.
I was inspired by a recent discussion on this topic on a speculative fiction writers forum, and we heard…
View original post 606 more words
Posted in Writing | Tagged creativity, Motivation, nanowrimo, writing | 1 Comment »
Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to win the Five Rivers Publishing Wasps at the Speed of Sound contest! It was a great competition and gave me the opportunity to decode the Morse Code message on Derryl Murphy’s Wasps at the Speed of Sound book cover, designed by Art Director, Jeff Minkevics.
It was a lot of fun and (extra yay) means that I also get to enjoy not one, not two, but ten e-books from Five Rivers. The chance to sample such a wide range of books is terrific, and I can’t wait to read them all:) Thanks, Five RIvers!
Posted in Other, Writing | Tagged books, contest, Derryl Murphy, Fiction, Five Rivers Publishing, fun, genre fiction, Jeff Minkevics, Morse code, sff, yay | Leave a Comment »
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